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Maldonado: “[Perez is] always crying. In Monaco it was a normal incident. I think we need to value where it?óÔé¼Ôäós intentional and where it?óÔé¼Ôäós not. For sure it was clear it was not intentional.”

Stefano Domenicali: “It’s very tough but it’s great to see Fernando [Alonso] still in the championship battle. From the sporting point of view, it’s good to see Lewis losing some points, Sebastian [Vettel] too. But it is also good to see Felipe [Massa] having a good performance today because we have jumped the classification on the constructors’ side and that is very good.”

Alonso on overtaking Lewis Hamilton: “I was with new tyres so I had a pace advantage but you know the McLaren is quite quick on the straights, so I overtook him on the exit of the corner thanks to the tyres and then he overtook me again on the straight and it was a difficult moment of the race because if you have a little contact or something you can lose your front wing or whatever and your race is over. You need to be aggressive, you need to try to no lose too much time in those overtakings but at the same time being a little bit careful.”

“[The soft tyre] didn’t perform very well. I was struggling a lot. I was in traffic, which doesn’t help, but I really couldn’t go any faster than the guys in front. In clean air I think we could’ve done the pace of the leaders at that time, but like that it was difficult.

Christian Horner: “Inevitably there is an awful lot of speculation surrounding Ferrari but we are focused on ourselves. Mark feels comfortable in the team and over the next few weeks we will sit down and talk about the future.”

Comment of the day

Bananas’ view on Maldonado’s latest collision was typical of many posted yesterday:

The longer this goes on with Maldonado with no serious punishment the more difficult it?óÔé¼Ôäós going to get to penalise him in a manner that properly addresses the way his driving his sub-standard; not just to punish Maldonado but to set a clear precedent to all drivers.

Personally, I?óÔé¼Ôäóm not sure today?óÔé¼Ôäós incident alone necessarily warranted a grid penalty or worse but clearly his driving and attitude to incidents is such that he needs to be shown how not to act.

One could argue that Lewis Hamilton was just as bad last year and should have been similarly penalised but He not only acknowledged his errors (at least one some occasions) but appears to have learned his lesson this year.

Personally, as bad as anything this year, what Maldonado did in Spa in 2011 was a disgrace and he should have been much more heavily punished ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ after all Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 championship for one move when at least the championship was at stake there. We already have a percent for the type of sanction that could be applied for just one incident but in Maldonado?óÔé¼Ôäós case the number of incidents is rising.

Where do Williams go from here ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ their hands could well be tied by Maldonado’s sponsorship money they clearly depend on so can we really see the team dealing with this effectively? The FIA must act swiftly and appropriately in my opinion before other drivers?óÔé¼Ôäó races are ruined and, much worse, someone is hurt by driving of Maldonado’s standard since he joined F1.

Again, the point is not just punish Maldonado but to set a clear precedent to the rest of the field.Bananas

Happy birthday!

On this day in F1

A year ago today the British Grand Prix was mired in a row over the FIA’s attempts to limit the use of exhaust-blown diffusers. The FIA backed down and agreed that teams would be allowed to retain them until the end of the season, following the Silverstone race.

Restrictions were imposed in an attempt to limit the use of exhaust-blowing this year, but teams are still doing their utmost to retain some of the advantage:

144 comments on Maldonado hits back at “crying” Perez

For Sauber & Checo what matters is to find a way to neutralize PM’s loonie ways and Checo’s own inconsistency. This means better execution by Checo and improved strategy including Quali. Especially Sergio needs to consistently beat himself, his teammate, and MAL in that order, then the rest of the field. Sauber needs points and positive TV time. Results rule.

actually, no, :-) Mexican.
Can’t wait to see Checo get the points consistently, and that requires better execution by himself and team in Quali and Race. Other drivers are there to be fairly passed on the way to points.

Funny thing is, F1 DOES consider the concepts of intention, and (as far as I am concerned) does consider the unique aspects of each crash. Though I do not often agree with their assessments, they do review the films, and take input from ex-driver/guest stewards.

While I dont like the outcome, I cannot argue with the process; and really, what do I know, Ive never even touched an F1 car

I truly believe that a precedent has already been set in terms of bad driver behavior by the (in my eyes) lax response by the race stewards and FIA.
This applies not only to Maldonado, but to other drivers who have transgressed too.

I think after a few repeat incidents, the team should get penalized – they should be able to reign in the crazy defending/ overtaking from their drivers.
This one would have gone off as a racing incident if not for his past misdemeanors. The worst part is he keeps saying he lost control – that doesn’t reflect well on an F1 driver!

As far as I can tell, Maldonado only really did an intentional dangerous move in Spa, and he should’ve had a MUCH harsher penalty then, and in Monaco where it was a bit more clumsy than angry, but blocking off Perez like that could’ve had far worse repercussions.

In Valencia, he did have to come back onto the track at some point as it was a corner that comes back in on itself so that seems more like a racing incident, and with Silverstone I actually think it was Perez’s fault and Pastor’s getting the blame more because of his history.

It defies logic to intentionally crash with other cars in the race as you end up going backwards yourself – it’d be a stupid policy to take that kind of risk and i’m sure Williams would stamp it out if it existed (and that’s not even thinking about the safety risk to the drivers!)

All you can do is laugh, there is definitely something fishy going on in my opion, how a driver can go around driving people off the road in crashes then walk round blaiming everyone else with insults then receive a penalty that is peanuts to there (or someone elses bank account) has all the hall marks of brown envelopes filled with `paper` and secret meetings after dark.

Well most of posts above appear as double standards to me. People call Lewis as a tough racer, but I dont really remember knowing an incident where Lewis would accept defeat with a competitive machine. It would either be Lewis coming on top or someone would end up biting the dust (even both). If someone calls that fair racing, calls all those as racing incidents, then I don’t see why you can’t accept PM’s incident yesterday as a racing incident. If Lewis makes himself as a unforgiving defender and an aggressive attacker, then whats wrong in someone else doing the same???? Lewis got plenty of reprimands, now its time for Maldonado to get some.
End of story.

It would be so great if they penilize Maldonado and ban him for one race. BotAs would be the drivder and god know he probably will win a race with that Williams. I’m pretty sure that if was a decent driver in that car, he would be fighting for the championship. The Williams is fast , it is the 1,2 ,3 ,4 fastest car in f1 but the driver are bad, mediocre, irregular and mistake prone. Also that Williams take good care
Of the tire. If I’m frank Williams I will give BotAs two races as the gp driver before the end of the season. One race substituting senna and the other Maldonado. That way the team can compare BotAs with each of the drivers and make a decision about which one needs to be kick out. If Chavez lose the election buy, buy Maldonado. There is not more petro-dollars for you.

McLaren are getting a very easy ride in the press given their dire performance. Remember the pressure Ferrari came under at the start of the season? McLaren seem to be in a nose dive, yet very few questions are being asked. Maybe that’s actually a symptom of the malaise in the team, lower expectations: Ferrari themselves were frantic with the poor performance and clearly the media pick up on this. McLaren instead announce that they’re not worried because they’ve got a tenth of a second worth of upgrades for the Silverstone… and we’ve seen the amazing results. It’s the apathy that annoys me most. And also the gut feeling that the team works around Button, which accounts for the spin into free fall. Trying to resolve the problems of an underperforming driver looks a seriously wrong turn. Hamilton would be mad to sign on for more of the same – because does it really look like McLaren will ever recover their last good form, 2007-08?

Classic case of weak discipline from authority figures. Maldonado gets a negligible (for him) fine and takes this as actually confirmation that he did nothing wrong: the penalty is seen to be there to appease his rivals, no more.

The thing that strikes me is the similarity, Valencia an Silverstone were almost identical in the way that He explains the accident, I was on the inside(even though I was overtaken) an lost grip because of the Kerbs/Damp patch next to it,

If you look at MAL line into the left hander, even if PER wasnt there He would of slid off the track because off hes early apex an thus wide exit from the corner, I think Mal was trying to drive KOB wide through the corner like he did to Kimi on lap 2?

What I don’t get is that quite a few people over here were criticising Hamilton that he should have given up the position or atleast make more room for Maldonado, even though Maldonado did went off the track. This time, Maldonado stayed in a very similar situation on the track, so he wasn’t this time wrong from the beginning, but I see nowhere people criticising Perez? I think we got some double standards running around.
Don’t get me wrong either; Pastor was way too agressive again and he should have been punished far more harshly.

People forget that Maldonado is in his first competitive year in F1, last years Williams was nowhere near the front runners, and a considerable way off the midfield runners aswell..

All Maldonado is doing at the moment is what we’d call ‘rookie errors’, The mere fact that he is in positions where he is racing and that he isn’t holding back should be applauded. With time, he can learn what can and can’t be done, and the other drivers can choose to either keep giving him tight spaces where he’s got little or no chance to get through, or give him adequate room..

As with the Valencia incident, I believe that Maldonado did not have control of his car at the time of the incident, and that can easily be backed up by the fresher tyres and a relatively green track.. It’s a shame to see him in so many incidents, but he clearly has the talent behind the wheel, we’ve seen that at various times in his career in F1.

I’d actually compare him to what Hamilton was like before this year, quick, but needs to get his attitude both on and off the track right before he starts winning the masses.. If he can do something like whatever Hamilton did last winter to get him onto the straight and narrow, I think we could see a potential future champion…

Except that Hamilton won over the masses from the off.
Comparing the two doesn’t work, most of Hamilton’s mistakes have actually come down to Hamilton expecting too much – space, reaction, mutual respect, patience maybe – from other drivers. The collisions with Massa and Maldonado are classic examples. When Hamilton is racing with better racing drivers – Alonso, Webber, Button – the track fights can be great without any serious incident. Also Hamilton’s ‘bad boy’ image comes from a lot of successful passes and so on that were deemed to be rule infractions by stewards even when no collision occurred. Maldonado on the other hand tends to collide because (a) he lacks the talent to race wheel-to-wheel, and (b) sheer bloody-mindedness and sometimes vindictiveness. Very very different.

All Maldonado is doing at the moment is what weâ€™d call â€˜rookie errorsâ€™.

Except he’s not a rookie. Even though last season wasn’t a competitive one for him it was still a full season in F1. That translates into PLENTY of time to understand the car’s behaviour, the brakes, the tires, the rules and regulations and the spirit of the sport. He’s got no excuse.

With time, he can learn what can and canâ€™t be done.

Again, he’s had plenty of time in F3000, WSR and GP2 to develop a respectful attitude towards other drivers. Which again he didn’t. Check his background and the controversies surrounding him in each of these competitions. Plus, Maldonado doesn’t really strike me as a learner.

and the other drivers can choose to either keep giving him tight spaces where heâ€™s got little or no chance to get through, or give him adequate room…

So everyone should move out of the way just in case this nutter decides to overtake while negotiating a corner at twice the speed he should / without braking? And if so, how much room? There was enough room alongside Perez at Silverstone to avoid a collision. How did that turn out?

As with the Valencia incident, I believe that Maldonado did not have control of his car.

Fair enough. But I said it before: that lack of control didn’t come from nowhere. He put himself in situations that resulted in losing control of the car. Lack of judgement all the way.

I think we could see a potential future championâ€¦

We could, but we won’t. I find it hard to imagine any team other than Williams would put up with Maldonado. And I think it’s safe to say Williams is not set to be a title contender in the near future, despite their lucky win this year.

Again, heâ€™s had plenty of time in F3000, WSR and GP2 to develop a respectful attitude towards other drivers

Though you alluded to it, I think you miss a point.
As you mention, MAL’s last racing experience was in GP2, but in my opinion, GP2 does nothing to increase mutual driver respect. That series is really nothing more than a Demolision Derby where a driver does not win, but simply survives. MAL has simply failed to realize that such antics will not be tolerated in F1. Deep down, I think he is capable of great things, as long as he can control the immaturity that served him for so long in GP2.

Widely reported today: “IOC President Jacques Rogge has ruled out Formula One as an Olympic sport, saying the games are about contests between athletes, not engines.”

But what if all the olympic cars were identical, as the boats are in the sailing events? Would that not leave human skill as the deciding factor, just as it is in sailing, or cycling? Besides, motorsport is MUCH more popular than sailing or cycling.

But the question of how olympic sports are selected is the deepest of mysteries. It certainly isn’t democratic.

And if the games really are all about *human* athletic prowess, can we assume that the IOC will be doing away with all the (hugely expensive) equestrian events – in which the horses are far from equal?

Maldonado has got a very aggressive driving style and unfortuantly at Silverstone, it went against him and he took too much speed and crashed into Perez. I would say 100% racing incident and that he needs to say sorry and make sure it doesn’t happen again. It just seems that no matter what Maldonado does, he is going to get slated by it. At Silverstone it was a racing accident and at the last grand prix I feel it was about 60/40 Maldonado’s fault. He is a good driver, as seen by winning in Spain and in lower formula’s, but he has a temper which needs to be calmed, for example, Lewis last year was aggressive to the point of what Maldonado is at now, he calmed down and this year he looks more mature. I can’t help but think but if someone sat Maldonado down and said “hey, it’s too much, just pick your options and take your time” he could be a good driver.

I think the problem for Maldonado, more than anything he has done on track, is his attitude towards the incidents. He appears to think himself totally blameless, making excuses and in some cases blaming other people. Itâ€™s one thing for a driver to make mistakes, but itâ€™s quite another to demonstrate a wilful blindness to your own mistakes, and show a complete unwillingness to modify your behaviour.

It seems that at the moment Maldonado is too hot headed and itâ€™s generally his mistakes which are causing the accidents heâ€™s involved with. Until he acknowledges this, heâ€™s going to keep on being a liability on the racetrack. I donâ€™t think that a ban is deserved, but I do think some sort of heavy penalty against him may be appropriate if he doesnâ€™t get his act together, or at the very least acknowledge that overtaking moves which have, at best, a 50/50 chance of ending in a crash, are not â€˜normalâ€™ and certainly donâ€™t meet up with the high standards expected of drivers in the worldâ€™s premiere racing series.

F1 is the pinnacle of racing; itâ€™s where you graduate to when youâ€™ve proven youâ€™re capable of racing at that level in the lower formulae. While drivers new to F1 are seen as rookies, in terms of their racing experience they are anything but â€“ usually having a good ten years of competition under their belts. While the craft of driving an F1 car is something which may take time for them to hone, the fact is that most of racecraft is universal. If you arenâ€™t able to race aggressively without causing incidents, then your racecraft isnâ€™t up to the standard expected of F1 drivers, and you have no place in an F1 car. F1 is not the place you should be learning how to race.

“F1 is the pinnacle of racing; itâ€™s where you graduate to when youâ€™ve proven youâ€™re capable of racing at that level in the lower formulae.”

I dont think thats the case anymore. It seems the lower catagories is where you prove you have speed and nothing else. F1 teams (or atleast those in dire need of sponsorship) seem content with getting drivers who are fast but brainless. For an F1 team, a shock result, like Spain this year, is more important than getting a driver who is a bit slower but more consistent

If having a good racing brain was a nessecity to make it into F1, Maldonado would never have made it here, especially on the back of his 9 race ban.

Its going to be impossible, but it will be interesting come the end of the season, to see what Malfunctionado has cost Williams in direct money, as a result of his crashes/loss of points vs what he is bringing to the team.

What worries me about Maldonado is that so far he has been lucky. I am dreading the moment when his luck or that of another driver he is racing runs out. Sooner or later it will happen with persistenly dangerous drivers like Pastor Maldonado, and its often the other guy who comes off worst.
I am not saying Maldonado should be banned, nor am I suggesting that he is out of his depth. He proved his potential in Barcelona earlier in the year and he obviously is talented, but he is always running into other drivers and this is a problem. Someone at Williams should talk with him and straighten him out.